46 comments:

Okay, here's a comment for you... I was a little surprised that someone voted for DiCaprio over DeNiro, but as much as I don't really care for DiCaprio, I can acknowledge that he's got some talent. However, I'm at a loss to understand how two people voted for Will Smith over Paul Newman. I'm stunned.

And yes, I'm against bringing up the rear in the standings, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Emma, I heard on the radio, just yesterday, that Will Smith has around 20 projects in the works. He was being compared to Lindsay Lohan who has something like two low-budget things working (and she may be close to bankruptcy).

As much as I love Paul Newman (and I'm pretty sure I voted for him) he's got zero current projects going. Granted, he's dead, but that never stopped Elvis from releasing albums.

Im all for Will Smith and his outstanding performances on Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Independence Day, but Paul Newman is the man. I know, I know, Will Smith really displayed his acting chops in Hitch, but you have to give it to Newman. Maybe there are some people younger than me in this thing who don't know who Paul Newman is? Just go to your local grocery store and pick up some salad dressing. Then you will know....

Now it's going to get interesting. The first round had some hard choices, but mostly it looks like everyone was able to pick out the better actors. Now, the real hard choices will be revealed! Can't wait to see how round 2 comes together!

I was a bit surprised that Pacino beat Morgan Freeman by so much. Pacino since about the late '80's has been sort of painful to watch a lot of the time. He just yells all the time. I couldn't get past it.

Oh, and Rhino (aka Keith in the standings), if you're going to hold TV shows and bad movies against an actor, how come you voted for Tom "Bosom Buddies/Family Ties/Bachelor Party/Joe Versus the Volcano" Hanks over Cary Grant?

The narrow points difference between first and last is easily explained: there were quite a few no-brainers in tthe first round. I think that's also, Jeff, the reason for the scarcity of comments. But the lame and the halt have been removed from the competition now, and the second round will be tougher. People will have more reason to lament the results they don't agree with, and more confidence to defend those they support.

Failing that, we could just post some contentious bullshit to get the conversation rockin!

Delmer... I don't think being prolific equals being good (or great, in the case of Paul Newman). The guy may be dead (that was painful to type), but he was a much better actor than Smith has proven to be thus far.

In years to come, perhaps Smith could become a great actor (I don't see it, but anything's possible) and then there would be justification for voting for him over Newman. But with their current resumes? Nope. I just don't see it.

Depp has never been, is not now, nor will ever be in the same solar system as Marlon Brando. That's not to say that I don't like Depp's performances, because I usually find them thoroughly enjoyable. But Brando sitting in the back of the car having his brother point a gun at him and saying, "No, Charlie. No," in a time when actors were sill acting like they were on stages instead of on camera, that was transcendent. That was real brilliance.

Ok people, I guess my taste for actors is a little more pedestrian than the rest of you since I'm dead last, but I stand firmly behind most of my first round picks. Can't believe that denzel and phillip seymore Hoffman both went down already. Malcolm X and Capote were both pure genius.

"But Brando sitting in the back of the car having his brother point a gun at him and saying, "No, Charlie. No," in a time when actors were sill acting like they were on stages instead of on camera, that was transcendent. That was real brilliance."Amen, brother. Amen.

Emma, I think Will Smith is a very, very talented actor. Yes, he's a star with a ridiculous volume of movies, many of which are mediocre at best. But his performances in movies like Six Degrees of Separation and The Pursuit of Happyness show he has range and depth. That said, he ain't no newman.

Michelle, I think the two match-ups you mentioned were two of the harder ones. I would have gone with the majority and given the slight edge to Downy Jr. over Denzel, but I would have gone with P.S. Hoffman (barely) over Duvall. Those are four exceptionally talented actors.

PS Hoffman and Duvall was, indeed, a tough choice. Hell, I even freaked when I didn't see Hoffman at first. Duvall really won out for me due to the length/strength of his career. As great as Hoffman is, I kept coming back to Duvall in "Tender Mercies," one of the most seamless, graceful performances in film.

I believe him as every character I see him portray, and that does not happen often.

I was upset having to vote against PSH. But I just couldn't NOT vote for Robert Duvall for pretty much the same reason as Nat. When I hear the name "Duvall," the first thing I think of is my favorite movie, To Kill a Mockingbird. And then I go on from there with all his wonderful work.

It sucks for the younger guys being matched against those with such outstanding and long careers, but, hey, them's the breaks.

I voted for Sean Penn for two reasons. First, I am more familiar with his work, and going down the list I see very impressive work.

Could Penn nail Hamlet like Olivier? Probably not, but then I have to fall back on the aforementioned difference between roles of today v. yesteryear. The majority of Olivier's roles, while impeccably acted, are so staid and British, while Penn has excelled as a character actor, something I find much more impressive. Can anyone honestly see Olivier as Harvey Milk, Sam (I Am) Dawson, Emmet (Sweet And Lowdown) Ray, Matthew (Dead Man Walking) Poncelet, David (Carlito's Way) Kleinfeld or yes, Jeff (I know that dude) Spicoli?

It was a tough choice, but not that tough, and I'm thinking 17 others probably faced it similarly.

Depp played far more interesting roles than Brando, IMO. He played them brilliantly. He can sing. Brando's just ... well, Brando. 'sides, Brando is misanthropic. I cannot admire an actor who is so unreachable and unlikeable.

Disagree that Depp's singing voice isn't worth much. He's got pitch, resonance, good tonal quality. His original goal was to be in music, not film. And I guess the difference between me and, well, everyone else is that I feel an actor needs to connect with his audience. That's part of the package. I can't believe in the character he's portraying if he's a total ass. That is why I chose Depp over Brando.

That's fine! I totally connected with Brando as Stanley Kowalski and as Terry Malloy, and I even connected with his Gruver in "Sayonara," although Red Buttons' portrayal of Kelly was memorable (I think he won the Oscar for it, too.) So, agree to disagree on Brando. I'm not saying Depp sucks or anything, but I think Brando is the superior actor. Depp has time to surpass that, though.

Man, if I had used an actor's real-life personality (as portrayed by the news and entertainment media, mind you) as a criteria for which actors were in this thing and how they were seeded, we wouldn't have a game to be playing! What an actor's like in real life has no bearing whatsoever on my impression of his/her acting ability.

No matter what else Robert Duvall has done or will do, I can't ever vote for him for this simple reason: I had an intense hatred for "The Apostle," and, somehow, my VCR knew it. The studio sent me a screener to review it back in 1997 and the VCR knew it was such a self-indulgent, bad project that the machine ejected the tape on its own, halfway through.

Jeff gets one vote like the rest of us. I don't think there's any need to be insulting just because Al Pacino and Marlon Brando are doing well. It's probably not a good idea to take part in games like this if you're going to take it too personally when things don't turn out according to plan. It's supposed to be a bit of fun.

I don't get a vote actually. I don't play, just monitor, officiate and antagonize.

Grapes, Jro is actually a good buddy of mine who saw the trash talking and jumped right in. You and he remind me a bit of each other, actually. You know, all old and grumpy 'n shit. I got him back with my Eastwood comment though. Left turn, Clyde!

Some of you think of Pacino as an actor who yells a lot and has done nothing since 'Scent of a Woman' (which I'm sure you don't like either)

But, if you've seen him in some of his smaller projects that he's more passionate about like 'The Merchant of Venice', you'd see that he's still a great actor. It's just that he get's paid the big money to be 'Pacino' because that's what most people want to see.